Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student

I feel that I learned a great deal of information just from this short video. I never thought about how students could basically take a topic on their own and run with it, without being lectured or from books. I think this is an awesome way for students to learn, especially since our world is becoming more and more technologically advanced. I like that students are having to work for their information, it teaches self-discipline and self-learning. This is so important to their future, they aren't going to be handed everything on a silver platter.

Wendy Drexler's video, "The Networked Student," made me really think about, "Do students really need a teacher?" I think they do for exactly all the reasons mentioned in the video. They need someone to guide them when they run into trouble, they need some encouragement and support. The teacher is able to teach the student how to build a network using all kinds of sources, and then teach them how to differentiate between good information and bad. They can also teach them to organize their information and how to use the web as a scavenger hunt for information. Then the student can get excited about what they've learned. The teacher has such a major part in this network learning, so now that student will be able to maintain what they've learned to help them in their future.

I don't feel prepared yet to be a teacher of a networked student. I still have a lot of learning to do before I could teach others how to network. I don't have enough confidence in my own networking skills yet. I would be a teacher that would have to learn from the students. I know that it's good to learn from your students, but I still think I should know a little more than they do about this topic.